So, yeah, being inconsistent with updates will sometimes mean 2 in the same week.

Note that my inconsistancy will also extend the length of my chapters. Overall, they're going to be fairly short.

Also, this story is somewhat... Not a story. More like... There's going to be a progression, and the second part will be in kind of different tone than the first part. Probably shorter too. It's going to be a bit of mixed bag. I'm a bit sorry for it to be a bit rough around the edges, but at the same time...

I'm doing my thing, you know ?

If you want well built stuff, you can go read 'the Weight of the Years' or 'Alternatopia'.

Chapter 1 : He's In

"Yeah, nah, I'm out." States the fox, getting up and taking his old bag that Judy notice is still the same from middleschool, down to the weird brown stains and the torn front pocket. The only difference she notices is the presence of a couple more patches too.

"Gideon Caïus Grey, sit back down this instant or I'll have another talk with your mother." Orders the cougar, her smile not moving from her face.

Gideon Grey, the fox everyone was scared of during all of primary and middle school. Judy might have been one of the only few that would openly be in his way. What resulted was a permanent disdain and enmity. He even repeated the last year of middle-school before being shipped to high-school. Then, Judy simply forgot about him, she didn't even know they were in the same year until today.

The fox glares at Mrs Catmull and obeys, crossing his arms defensively as he does so.

"You need tutoring, Judy's the best student of her year. She's kindly volunteered to offer tutoring to students who need it, and you need it. I don't see what the problem is."

Judy almost reacts at the mention of her 'volunteering' but keeps it to herself. She knows what the problem is. As a reflex, she brushes the almost invisible scars on her left cheek. She doesn't catch the shift in Gideon's expression as he notices it and looks away from her.

"I don't need help."

The cougar sits in front of him, showing some hesitation as she reaches for him, before thinking better of it and keeping her paw to herself. Good on her, Judy wouldn't have been surprised if he had bitten her. "You already missed a quarter, and you were already struggling."

"I don't need HER help." He corrects, still not looking at the bunny.

Judy wants to say that if he doesn't want the help, there are probably others that would need it, and maybe actually deserve it, but she's pretty sure Mrs Catmull wouldn't respond well to that.

Not that she'd give her detention or anything, but she'd be disappointed, and that would somehow feel worse.

"All I ask you is to give it a go, okay ? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and we'll find another solution. But you need tutoring if you hope to graduate."

The gaze she sends the feline's way makes the doe think he'll just brush away her offer, and she's surprised to see his shoulder slouch. "Who cares if I graduate."

"I do. Your p- your mother does. Your teachers do."

"Yeah, right. Well if it gets ya off my back."

The feline doesn't even react to the barb, completely ignoring it as she stands up to walk back toward the bunny. "That's settled then. I'll let you work out the details with your heavy schedule, as well as your teaching plan."

"Erh… Mrs Catmull." Hesitates Judy as she eyes her future student.

"Yes ?"

"No… Nothing."

"Perfect ! If you need anything, my door's always open ! And don't forget to bring back the keys to the front desk on your way out. Bye !" And like that, Mrs Catmull is out, leaving Judy and Gideon to fend for themselves against the awkward silence.

"Sooo…" begins Judy hesitantly, as she walks toward the vulpine. "In what topic do you have difficulties ?"

The mutter he answers with sounds a bit aggressive, and also completely unintelligible.

"Sorry ?"

"All of'em."

"Ah… Well, is there anything you'd like to start with ?"

A shrug is her answer. Great.

"Okay, what about calculus ?"

"So, how is that tutoring thing going ?"

The bunny grunts and slows down to match Sharla's pace. "Nightmarishly."

"That bad ?"

"Let's just say Gideon isn't the easiest to work with."

The ewe fumbles and almost trips, owing it to Judy to keep her standing. "Gideon ? As in Gideon Grey ?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Wow. That's… Unexpected. Are you sure you're okay with that ?"

Judy shrugs. "I haven't seen him since he left for highschool, and he seems to have calmed down. Plus I have a two more years of martial arts under my belt now, so he better not do anything stupid."

Sharla eyes her friend, she doesn't look even a little worried, which is good. In her place, she doubts she could be that calm, she used to have nightmares about that fox. "What does he needs help in ?"

"Take a guess."

"I..." Sharla reflects on it for a couple of seconds. "I actually can't think of a topic in which he wouldn't."

"And you're right on your money. Give that sheep three more laps to run !"

"Hey, don't take it out on me !" Reacts her friend.

"Eh… You can take it. And I've brought the weights today." The bunny accelerates again, the contrast between their pace now smaller than when they first started training together. She only has eight laps on Sharla's ten.

"Oh Joy !" Shara deadpans watching her best friend move away from her.

"How did you do on your test ?"

Judy's already sitting at the table, her books out, when Gideon enters the room. Both of them are still really guarded around one another, and it's only their second time studying together, counting the one Mrs Catmull reintroduced them to each other.

"Fine." Blatantly lies the vulpine before sitting a chair away from her.

"We can't work together if you're that far."

"What do you care ? You don't really want to teach me."

Well, that's true. She doesn't want to, but he needs help. And she doesn't turn her back to mammals in need. Nor to a challenge.

"Just leave me alone and do your stuff. I ain't gonna tell Mrs Catmull about it."

Judy closes her eyes and slowly exhales. He hasn't changed much, has he ?

"Gideon, how did you do on your test ?"

With a sigh, he takes out his history paper and hands it to her. 27 over 100. It's a disaster. "Do you have your lessons with you ?" She asks, keeping her expression level.

The fox takes out a notebook to show what looks like a paradox. The fox has a really neat writing, if strangely larger than most, but is still full of spelling mistakes. Plus he utterly sucks at taking notes. And it feels like most of them are missing, which could be explained by his absence during the first quarter.

"And those from last year ?"

"I… I lost them." He answers. He's not watching her in the eyes, but she can tell by his expression that he doesn't want to talk about it.

"I guess you can use mines." She offers, sitting on the chair next to him, and taking out her own notebook to open it in front of him. In contrast with him, her writing is what she would call… Utilitarian. Bordering on hieroglyphic if she has to be honest.

"Thanks." Gideon gruffly answers, before going through the pages and seeing that it's going to take quite some time to catch up on everything. Especially since it's not the only lesson he'll have to copy on her. "Erh, maybe we could use a copier."

"Wouldn't it help you memorise if you wrote it down again ?"

"I guess..."

"Let's get to it, then !" Judy says, trying to inject some of the cheeriness she uses to motivate Sharla to work out to encourage him. "Do you want me to explain ?"

Gideon shrugs and she takes it as a yes. As she does so, she notice that he has to squint to read her writing. She really needs to make an effort on that.

"How are things coming along ?" Asks Bobby, as he approaches the bunny. "I mean, with Gideon."

Judy's sitting on a bench in the school yard, sipping on a raisin juice box. Next to her, Sharla is answering some text on her phone.

"He has… No basics. No notes. No nothing."

"Oh..."

"I told him he should try to ask his comrade for their notes and he just shrugged. I mean, I'd have given mines, but I need them to study too. I think I'll have to use a copier so he can have them too, but I don't understand why he doesn't just ask his friends to help him."

Sharla's gaze travels from group to group, looking for the vulpine. "Maybe he doesn't have friends."

"What about Travis ?"

"He's in an apprenticeship to become an electrician with his father."

Judy lifts a brow. "How do you even know that ?"

"He was with him when he fixed our electric system last summer."

The doe nibbles on her straw reflectively, as her gaze falls onto her student, leaning against a wall on his own, sending sinister glares to those who approach him. Most ignore him, but all give him a wide berth.

"Hey Judy." Her reflection is suddenly cut by a rather buff buck which is approaching their bench. "Can I talk to you for a minute ?"

"Sure Donnie." She answers, following him a few paces away, wondering what he wants. Does he want to ask her out ? She doesn't really know him, but he's rather good looking, she could accept. "What's going on ?"

"I don't want to make it sound creepy, but I've watched you in sports, and I gotta say that you're putting half the soccer team to shame… And I saw your grades-"

"You saw my grades ?" She asks lifting a brow.

"Yeah, old Beaverly just left his folder open on a bench during practice, I wasn't really trying to peek… Anyway, I wanted to ask, would you be interested in trying out for the soccer team ?"

"The male soccer team ?" She reacts.

"I checked, it's not male, it's co-ed. There just aren't any females that passed the trials yet, but I think you could. So, interested ? Try-outs and training every tuesday and friday after class."

The doe's glad that she actually has good excuse to decline. Not that she'd have anything against soccer, she simply has enough on her plate as it is. It feels a bit hypocritical, thinking like that, when she knows she might have been okay for a date. "Sorry, I'm tutoring on tuesdays. It's really important."

Something weird happens to his expression, but quickly, his smile appears again. "Well, if you change your mind…" He trails off before leaving.

"What did he want ?" Asks Bobby as soon as Judy is back.

"He wanted to ask me to joint he soccer team."

"Aha ?"

"What ?"

Sharla's gaze turns to amused. "I'm pretty sure he wanted more than that."

The doe shoots him a glance. "Do you think ? Maybe he should've asked for that then… Do you know anything about him ? It's the first time we talked."

Sharla giggles. Judy's so uninvolved into the highschool life she isn't surprised she doesn't know him. "Oh, he's another freshmammal and already one of the best players in the soccer team. A bit of a jock, but he's not doing too bad in class as I heard. Actually, he's in the same one as Gideon."

"Really ?"

"Yup." Sharla's smile turns to inquisitive. "Would you go out with him if he asks you to ?"

Judy shrugs. "If he asks, yeah, maybe."